UPDATE 1-U.S.

Attorney general names prosecutors to probe leaks

June 08, 2012|Reuters

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By Alexandra Alper

WASHINGTON, June 8 (Reuters) - U.S. Attorney General EricHolder on Friday appointed two chief federal prosecutors tospearhead an investigation into suspected leaks of classifiedinformation amid allegations that the White House made thedisclosures to boost President Barack Obama's election chances.

Holder said the investigation would be headed by U.S.Attorneys Ronald Machen Jr. of Washington, D.C., and RodRosenstein of Maryland, who would be "fully authorized toprosecute criminal violations discovered as a result of theirinvestigation."

"The unauthorized disclosure of classified information cancompromise the security of this country and all Americans and itwill not be tolerated," Holder said in a statement.

The secrets, revealed in media stories, have includedreports on U.S. cyber warfare against Iran, procedures fortargeting militants with drones and the existence of a doubleagent who penetrated a militant group in Yemen.

But Obama brushed off the allegations at a news conferenceon Friday where he told reporters he was offended by the chargesand would not "play" with security issues.

"The notion that my White House would purposely releaseclassified national security information is offensive," he said."It's wrong and people I think need to have a better sense ofhow I approach this office."

CONGRESSIONAL, CAMPAIGN FINGER POINTING

U.S. lawmakers from both political parties are upset aboutthe recent publication of sensitive information and are planninglegislation to toughen penalties for leakers. The FBI has openedinvestigations into some of the recent reports about sensitivenational security matters.

On Capitol Hill, a lawmaker said there were indications ahigh-level individual w as involved in the media disclosures.

"Someone from a very senior clearance level has providedinformation, that's very clear in the preliminary review,"Representative Mike Rogers, the Republican chairman of the Houseof Representatives intelligence committee, told Reuters.

Rogers did not speculate on the who the leaker might be. Thetop Democrat on the House intelligence committee, C.A. "Dutch"Ruppersberger, said h e did not believe anyone had been targetedin early investigations into the leaks.

ZERO TOLERANCE

Obama also said on Friday that he would root out thoseresponsible for the revelations because "in some cases it'scriminal - these are criminal acts when they release informationlike this. And we will conduct thorough investigations, as wehave in the past.

"Since I've been in office my attitude has been zerotolerance for these kinds of leaks and speculation.".

But Senator John McCain, the Republican who lost thepresidency to Obama in 2008, has accused the administration ofapparently sanctioning leaks by senior administration officialsfor political purposes.

Ruppersberger said on Friday there could be authorizedreleases of information by the president or his top advisers.

"The president can declassify issues, the National SecurityCouncil can declassify issues," he said. "Sometimes you want todeclassify because it's important for your investigation, or itsimportant to send messages. This is part of what we need to lookat."

Democrats had not joined Republican calls for a specialcounsel to look into the release of sensitive information.Ruppersberger said one reason a special prosecutor might besought would be if there was "pushback" from the administrationwhen investigators ask for documents and information.

"But from what I understand now, the administration has saidthey will fully cooperate," Ruppersberger said.